This is your replacement convention for AE. It is a 2-day event happening August 13th and 14th @ the UBC SUB.

But I am not sure if I will be in the artist's alley (aka attending) because:
A. there are only 25 tables, via a "screened" application process
B. "Artists are expected to run their table for the course of the convention, leaving early will result in a $40 penalty."

---

Not only is the screening process unclear, but the latter regulation is just unheard of.

[my inquiry on their FB page]
I don't know if it's just me, but it seems kind of cruel and unusual to keep the artists in like prisoners... What if they want to make group engagements with their con pals whom they never otherwise get to see? To find a tablesitter you can just leave behind alone while you and all your other friends have fun doesn't come easily to me. Is there a reason behind the $40 fee? Forgive me if any of this feels misconstrued.

[Their reply]
I'm certain that if an artists goal was to make group engagements and not promote/sell their art work then a table might not be what they're looking for.

Finding a table sitter is two fold:
A) Keeping your table open
B) Making sure a table that may have been highly sought after is open and not empty/closed for hours on end.

The $40 fee is there so the event doesn't look bad and because having a deterrent is better than a false threat. An empty table around for hours looks really bad. In the end it may be unfair for the artist who cant find a sitter to get stuck to the table they bought, paid, and/or made the commitment/preparation for to miss out, but its even more unfair for the con and other more dedicated/willing artist alley applicants who didn't get that table for someone to just buy it and use it on a whim.

---

IDK about you, but it is painfully clear to me that this individual is not an artist, judging only by the first sentence. Furthermore, I think a convention will look WORSE having a vain regulation like that than having empty tables for a couple of hours. $40?? Really?? That's about how much you pay at the dentist's office if you cancel last-minute. :/

---

[My reply]
I do not appreciate your twisting my words saying that "an artists goal was to make group engagements and not promote/sell their art". Did I say it was an either-or condition? I was saying that it never was, and this event is making it so. I think you are confusing dealers and artists. Conventions are opportunities for artists to be able to mingle with other artists and share and be inspired. This is the first I am hearing of this regulation in any convention I have attended, for a good reason - it is unreasonable and unethical.

In fact, artists with the business sort of mindset have actually rented out dealer's tables instead. I am thinking now that perhaps I should look into that instead?

I have a feeling they will come up with some retarded excuse to discriminate artists from the Dealer's area, which will be pretty unlawful given that the artist pays the same amount of money and it is a first-come-first serve basis... Well, stay tuned. :/

---

[EDIT: I got a response from the main organizer -- the previous respondent wasn't even a staff to begin with, apparently :/]

---

Hey Judy,

My name is Greg, and I'm one of the main organizers of Cos & Effect. I'm messaging you regarding your comments and concerns regarding the Artist Alley at our August convention.

Firstly, thank you for the feedback! Even if it isn't necessarily positive, we still appreciate the time taken to let us know what people think about our efforts.

If I understand correctly, you are concerned about being tied to your artist's table for the entire con. And you're wondering why we are instituting a $40 fee for people that abandon their tables.

Our intent with these rules is to provide the absolute best convention experience for our attendees. One of things we've frequently seen at other conventions is negative it is for the convention, when dealers or artists pack up and leave an empty table, abandoning their spot. We're not talking about bathroom breaks, or going to get food, or reasonable things like that, but specifically abandoning the whole event and leaving an empty table. So to be completely clear, we don't want to fine ANYBODY, we just want to dissuade artists and dealers from abandoning their spots. (and just to clarify, although we haven't announced it yet, dealers will have a similar requirement in place)

That all being said, we're not unreasonable either. If there's an emergency and something comes up where the person has to leave, and they let us know ahead of time that they have to leave early, we'll waive penalties on a case by case basis.

Furthermore, we intend to have NPCs (our staff) monitoring the room at all times, so if an artist or dealer needs to use the bathroom, or needs food, they'll be available to watch their product for short periods of time.

Finally, we don't expect artists to be at their tables the ENTIRE convention. We're asking artists to be on hand from 10am to 6pm, and we're thinking of keeping the room open until 9pm, giving artists the option of being there an additional 3 hours if they choose.

Please understand that from our perspective, we are running an event for Costumes, Cosplay, and Alternative-Fashion. We had no intention of including an artist alley originally, because it doesn't have a direct connection with our main theme. We have given up a large room to be used for the artist alley because there was a great deal of demand for it, and supporting the community is very important to us. All we're trying to ensure with our rules on this is that the artists actually use the space we have allocated for them.

I should also mention that the reason we didn't build artistic content into our August cosplay event is because we have an art specific event planned for 2012, most likely in November. Actually, I am aware of no less than 3 major art events debuting next year, and I've heard rumours of a few others. So while 2011 in Vancouver is a little weak when it comes to support for artists, 2012 will be amazing!

So please keep an eye on our forums (and the calendar on the forums), and we'll be posting info on all of them as soon as we have have confirmed dates and details for any of them. The one we are specifically producing ourselves is called Cloud City Comic Con.

I hope that this message helps explain a little bit of why we're doing what we're doing. We don't want to make anyone feel like they're in a prison, though, that's for sure!

Please feel free to email me on this (or any other) issue at greg@irlevents.com. Your feedback on this is important to me.

Sincerely,
Greg Neher

---

I wrote a reply, but I will update that in a later entry, depending on his response. `_`